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Still more on “honor” crimes in Canada

The Country Estate covered the guilty plea bargain reached in the stupefyingly cruel murder of 16-year-old Aqsa Parvez earlier this week. In case you missed it and you are too lazy to click through, Aqsa Parvez was strangled to death by her father and brother for refusing to wear a hijab, wanting to get a part-time job and generally refusing to become an unthinking drone in the island of Islamopatriarchy that was their family household.

It was with great satisfaction that I noticed the Globe and Mail addressed the case three times over today. Full coverage after the jump.

-My favorite of the three was by Margaret Wente, who used the Parvez murder to frame an opinion on the difficulties Canada faces in integrating consciously isolationist immigrant communities with values inimical to those of most Canadians

The heart of her piece:

In 2001, Aqsa’s father, Muhammad, brought over his wife, Anwar Jan, and their seven other children. Aqsa was the youngest. All the older children were eventually married off to first cousins back in Pakistan, in unions arranged by their father. All the spouses have emigrated to Canada. Thirteen people lived in Aqsa’s house, including three sisters-in-law. Her father’s rule was absolute. The women wore traditional dress. None went past high school and none worked outside the home. They were completely dependent on their husbands.

Aqsa didn’t want to live like them. She wanted to wear Western clothes, go to the mall with her Western friends and get a part-time job. She left home many times, and had left again when she was intercepted by her brother, taken home and killed.

In rural Pakistan, and many other Muslim parts of the world, defiance of male power is as serious as defiance of Allah. Aqsa’s father and brother both told people they were justified in killing Aqsa simply because she was embarrassing the family in front of the neighbours. “This is my insult,” Muhammad told his wife. “My community will say you have not been able to control your daughter. She is making me naked.” As Aqsa’s mother explained to the police: “This is the way it’s done in Pakistani culture. Either they kill the girl or turn her out of the house.” Aqsa’s older sister, Shasma, told police that Aqsa had disrespected both her father and her religion, and that whoever did this to her sister should not go to jail.

Did you catch that? Her own sister said her father and brother were completely justified in killing her. Now you begin to understand why Aqsa’s father made so certain to cut off the education of the women under his “dominion” and keep them penned up at home–the better to brainwash them. The most upsetting part about the sister’s pro-murder comments is that they actually make Aqsa’s brother, who assisted in the murder, look better since he said he would’ve probably “just” broken his daughter’s legs if he were in charge.

Why did it all have to happen? Because of wounded pride, because of the fear of losing face. Cowardice breeds very few good things.

-the editorial staff wrote on the danger of using cultural relativism to explain away the case

As I said last time, it may not be polite to point it out, but not even the craziest evangelical Christians or orthodox Jews stab girls for returning home too late at night or strangle them for wanting to get part-time jobs. The Muslim community needs to look at itself, examine its values and come up with a solution to “honor” crimes. It is unfair for a whole community of mostly hard working, moderate and fair-minded people to be tarred with this brush, but it will likely keep happening until the “honor” crimes stop.